I think you might be right, Wurzel. I went to Bookham again yesterday and saw six low down, all males too I think.
But funny you should mention Shipton B., as it's now time for the report from our visit there on
Thursday 30th July. Sunny and very warm with light winds, and an easy journey down the A303.
I met up with Wurzel and Philzoid around 1000 and under Wurzel's expert guidance we set about looking at likely areas for Brown Hairstreaks. The site covers a large area and has a great deal of blackthorn, but we ended up in a likely spot for nectaring, with a bed of thistle not far from the blackthorn hedge and trees behind. Sure enough, sitting on one of the thistles was a male Brown Hairstreak.
It soon became apparent that there were actually two of them on this patch.
![BH8 300720.JPG (3.93 MiB) Viewed 761 times the hunter stalks his prey...](./files/thumb_9839_3c4c296dfd76cd8cfc7af5ebfccfd6f1)
- the hunter stalks his prey...
Though the sunshine kept them mostly with their wings closed, there were some brief flashes of the uppersides and from one angle a curious iridescence appeared.
Moving on, we discovered fairly close by which tree they were using as a "master" tree - an acer of some sort rather than an ash, probably because many of the ashes here are suffering from die-back as is true across the UK. Several were flying around this including a likely female. Over the next couple of hours, we came across quite a few more, estimating a total close to the dozen mark. All the rest were males, nectaring or finding sustenance from the blackberries which in this early year were already starting to go squishy and ferment.
I watched one individual doing this which had perhaps overindulged, as it crawled unsteadily towards a new fruit and promptly fell off down into the depths of the undergrowth. There were more glimpses of the uppersides, which to be honest compared with the females are remarkable for being... well, unremarkable.
At one point I found two together, showing how they vary in size - the one in the background is markedly larger than the other.
Were there other butterflies? Well, on my way up from parking in the village I'd spotted a Wall, and Wurzel managed to conjure a Painted Lady for Philzoid in a sparse year for them so far. On a rare wet patch, there was a second brood Dingy Skipper puddling - you feel from foreign photos that there should have been a crowd of them, but it was all on its own.
![DS5 300720.JPG (2.57 MiB) Viewed 761 times not a big butterfly!](./files/thumb_9839_fa2b02bbc7e331b9541ea6d0c7b43fc7)
- not a big butterfly!
I eventually bid farewell to the others, who were going on to another site in search of more Walls amongst other things, and wandered down the track back to the village. Ahead of me I spotted a clump of ragwort sprouting from the verge in semi-shade, and there sitting on it was another Brown Hairstreak. Its deep orange colour (after becoming accustomed to the yellower orange of the males) immediately marked it out as a female - which was confirmed when it decided to fly up into nearby trees. A great way to finish the day out!
Dave